Project: Death for Classroom Zero

Chapter 43: Project B

They have ten minutes at most to scan and observe the place.

Being disturbed by peculiar paraphernalias found inside the laboratory, Tristan and Rain studied each things with suspicious eyes. They decided to scan through the place differently. Tristan went to the place where activated tubes filled with frothing enzyme liquids could be found. Beside those tubes is a gigantic cabinet which is not filled with salvers, but with transparent containers. Inside each container is a test specimens: embryos, fetus, fingers, heart, eyes, tongue, a set of completely extracted intestines, livers, and male and female’s private parts. Each of them were cased securely—sealed—in glass container, making them horrifying to look at.

“You found something there,” From the counter, Rain carefully and asked Tristan.

“Human parts caged in a container, that is. Seems like the man earlier was interested in field of biology.”

“He’s a scientist,” said Rain.

“Not unless if he was just mad and had the obsession of collecting human body parts for fun, then I say he’s a scientist.”

Knowing that they have a limited time, Tristan removed his gaze away from the poor fragmented parts of human body. He started to look at the activated tubes. It was beside the gigantic collection of human internal organs.

There was at least five activated tubes which Tristan could observe. The last tube, however, he is not sure if whether it was the same as the first four tube he could see. Because from where he stood, he could see metals covering to its cylindrical shaped tube. Perhaps it was something a special tube than the first four.

Now, Tristan found out what was inside the activated glass tubes. Seeing a human body, he have to cover his mouth to suppress the gasp he suddenly urged to do.

It was a woman, perhaps around eighteen, with face too angelic to be caged inside a tube that is filled with green frothing liquid-like enzymes. What is more terrifying is that her body was cut open. From neck, towards the belly button, her body was somehow sliced by sharp surgical knife, which made her skin and some muscle tissues to be opened as if an old worn book.

“Th—That scientist is a mad one,” Tristan grudgingly concluded. He have this sudden willingness to meet the unknown man, look him straight in the face, and ask what stupidity he was doing at his laboratory. It was as if he was just treating human life as if a test sample—a test object. As if he was not a human.

Then again, he remember that he was inside this Project Zero program. He himself is a test object.

With a heavy shoulders, he moved on towards the next activated tube. Just like earlier, he immediately covered his mouth because of fear and shock. This time, he felt he wanted to throw every food he had eaten earlier at the cafeteria.

“Damn it,” he muttered.

Rain heard it. “What’s the matter, Tristan?”

Tristan looked back at the first tube he looked at. Then he went back to the second tube. Without any hesitation, he also looked at the third and the fourth tube. Panicking, he stepped back. He was shaking his head as if confused as he continued to stare at the figures of the woman caged inside the tube.

“Th—They’re all the same,” Tristan whispered.

Indeed, the woman inside the four test tubes was a single woman. All of them has the same physical features, all of them has the same structure of face: angelic, yet now, creepy.

Were they identical quadruplets? Tristan doubted that. An identical twins, or triplets, or quadruplets may look all the same in physical features, but there will always be noticed physical difference in each of them. They will never be as equally the same to each other. But for these woman inside the tube, it was hard to notice their differences. Even the way how they all closed their eyes, or how they float along with the green liquids in the test tubes, it was definitely a single person. Perhaps one of them is real, and the other three is just a copy.

A clone.

A clone? Tristan thought it was a high probability. A scientific discovery that one living organism may be copied into another identical living organism with the use of complex thoughts in science.

The conclusions of it being a clone was backed-up when he saw the name of the women above their test tubes.

Project B reserve (a)

Project B reserve (b)

Project B reserve (c)

Project B reserve (d)

“Project B? what was that supposed to mean?”

Tristan’s gaze landed towards the last tube which instead of glass, it was made of metal. From its spaces, a smoke was erupting. Tristan noticed that it was a cold smoke, for it doesn’t rise above the ceiling, but falling towards the floor.

He gathered his courage. He swallowed the lump on his throat, then mustered up all his strength to walk—and look at the image of the woman inside. But as he was about to peek through it, he heard Rain calling him.

“T—Tristan.” Rain’s voice was in panic.

He detached his attention towards the metal tube because of Rain’s noticeable panic. Quickly, he went towards where she was standing. The first thing that he saw was the pale face of Rain. She was about to enter another small room that was just covered with white curtain. But in the middle of weaving the curtain into open, Rain had stopped.

Because she saw something.

Tristan hurried to where she was standing. Looking at the gory room, he too was frozen just like Rain.

There is a bathtub inside. On it, a woman’s tilted head was looking at them straightly. With widely opened, terrified eyes. Her arms was hanging on the edge of the bathtub. And she was bathing on her own pool of blood.

Beside the tub, there was a small table. Standing on it is a pair of pale, severed feet. It was the feet of the woman bathing on her own blood. Perfectly cut in a well-cared, delicate manner. A sophisticated butchering of a human body.

From their back, someone called the two of them. A sound of “psst! Psst!”

Tristan and Rain jumped from shock. Quickly, they looked towards where the sound was coming from.

The first thing that Tristan saw was a flat-screen monitor glaring on their front. It was opened. Turned on. In the middle of the screen, a straight green line was running. Just like the dead line in the electrocardiogram monitor found in the hospital. Then another “psst!” coming from it.

The monitor was the one calling them. As it called, the dead, straight line suddenly spiked up and down, as if it was the rate of a beating, alive heart.

From the chaotic up and down spiking, it entangled to each other. Until those supposed to be heart rates became a twist of cursive letters which how it was read is familiar to Tristan.

‘See You.’

The monitor turned off. Seconds after, it opened on its own once again. However, instead of straight flat lines, the display on the TV is a live CCTV recording. On a flickering, dim alley, a handsome man wearing a white lab coat was walking. Back to his laboratory. Unknowing that two sly students had already infiltrated it.

“We must get out of here,” said Tristan. He knew, any minute soon, that the mad scientist was about to reach this room. And it would be dire for them if … they’ll be spotted here. “Now!”